


Between the Sinner and the Sea

by skyofstars



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Does this count as inter-species, It's really that simple, Little Mermaid Elements, M/M, Neil is a mermaid, The Foxes are pirates, mermaid!Neil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2019-08-25 12:53:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16661455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyofstars/pseuds/skyofstars
Summary: A story involving, very simply, a group of unruly pirates, a ship known as theFoxhole, a mermaid who may or may not have more humanity than the humans, and a whole lot of swashbuckling.





	1. Battle and Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> So I know this is pure self-indulgence and nobody will probably read this because of how strangely niche it is, but hopefully there are some people out there who share my love of pirates and mermaids and the ocean and the Foxes. Also I am aware I am currently juggling another fic that I haven't updated in 2 months but this idea popped into my head and it won't leave me alone until I post it. I hope u guys like.
> 
> Ps. I know nothing about the anatomy of ships so please forgive my ignorance on anything.

Among the crew of the _Foxhole_ , there was one simple rule, and one simple rule only: don’t ever ask any questions. Every person aboard the ship had some form of ghosts in their past; they were all running from something, be it their own selves or an outside force. This was hardly surprising for a group of thieving pirates, but the rule remained steadfast all the same.

Some might call them a skeleton crew, and they wouldn’t technically be wrong. There were ten of them aboard a ship meant for many more, but Captain Wymack didn’t trust easily, and they made it work with the few hands they had. Unfortunately this meant that there was always work to be done - it was rare to catch the crew sitting down for a game of poker. Although this might have more to do with the fact they all hated each other, rather than any potential quality bonding time they were missing out on.

The closest the crew came to bonding was in the times they all had to band together to battle a nefarious attacker, such as another pirate ship intent on stealing their loot, or, in rarer cases, the King’s Navy itself, poised to arrest and hang them for illegal piracy. Since they were a smaller ship, and therefore a relatively unknown force, attacks upon them were generally sporadic and only happened when they were unfortunate to cross waves with a hostile force. 

That is, until Kevin Day joined their crew.

When the crew rescued Kevin, broken and bleeding, from a piece of driftwood in the middle of the Carolina Ocean, it was the first time Captain Wymack willingly broke his no-questions-asked rule. Kevin was a man in need of serious protection, because the people after him were powerful and mighty. Kevin needed an immovable object to counteract the unstoppable force hellbent on hurting him.

This was where Andrew factored in.

Whilst the other Foxes valued gold and treasure as currency, Andrew Minyard traded in deals and promises. He made a trade with Kevin, an exchange for protection. None of the other Foxes knew exactly what the details of the deal were, but the consequences of it were clear: Kevin was now Andrew’s problem. How Kevin expected one man to shield him from the entire fleet that was after him was nobody’s guess, but the Foxes had long learned not to question Andrew, and they didn’t care enough about Kevin to ask him for details. 

Unfortunately, a side-effect of taking Kevin under their wing meant the Foxes had inadvertently painted a target on their own ship. Which was why, on one particularly sunny day when the water was calm enough to practically glide across, they found themselves under attack.

The _Raven King_ was a much larger, much more populated ship than the _Foxhole_ , and its captain was notorious across the seven oceans. It boasted fifteen cannons to the _Foxhole_ ’s five, a hundred crewmates to the _Foxhole_ ’s ten, and - perhaps the most damning factor - its crew were actually able to work together without resorting to petty squabbles and infighting.

The _Foxhole_ had just narrowly avoided a cannon blowing a hole into its starboard side when Captain Riko hollered across the decks; “Kevin! Rejoin me willingly and all will be forgiven! You cannot possibly be happy amidst this crew of cast-offs and infidels!”

“Hey!” Allison screamed from where she was loading up a cannon. “Who are you calling infidels?!”

“What’s an infidel?” Nicky asked Aaron while preparing to shoot at a member of the crew of the _Raven King_ with his musket.

“ _You’re_ an infidel,” Seth sneered at Nicky from where he stood at the ship’s wheel, attempting to keep them from drifting off-course.

Nicky turned his musket so that it was pointed at Seth’s head. “Call me an infidel again and I’ll blow your brains out!”

“Hemmick!” Captain Wymack roared. “Focus on the enemy, you blithering imbecile!”

Wymack’s first mate, Dan Wilds, yelled from her perch on the crow’s nest; “Andrew, watch out!”

Andrew, who was currently acting as a human body shield for Kevin, glanced up at the warning and found Captain Riko’s own musket was trained on him. A slow, cold smile worked its way onto Andrew’s face. The only times Andrew ever smiled were when he was looking death straight in the eye.

Before Riko could take the shot, Allison’s cannon fired and blew a hole straight into the side of the _Raven King_. Riko slipped off-balance and Andrew took the opportunity to hurl Kevin around the other side of the ship, pressing him back against a beam. “Stay here,” he growled, before jumping straight back into the foray. Since Kevin’s left hand was broken and his fear of Riko was currently eating him alive, he did exactly as Andrew bid him.

It was Kevin’s willingness to do exactly as Andrew told him that led to the disaster that followed. 

Since Kevin was stood still as a statue with his back to the beam, he could pinpoint the exact moment a Raven cannon collided into the side of the _Foxhole_ , sending the ship careening sideways. He could pinpoint the exact moment the sea over the deck appeared closer than it should be. And he could pinpoint the exact moment he was lurched off his feet and flung into the air, sent into a flying arc straight towards the water.

He could pinpoint the exact moment the now-churning sea engulfed him whole and he knew nothing but darkness.

 

*****

 

It was only because the mermaid was watching the two ships attack each other from a safe distance that he witnessed the figure fall overboard and plunge into the sea. 

Really, this was proof more than anything else that the mermaid should have done what he did best and minded his own business.

But, if one really thought hard about it, the battle _was_ the mermaid’s business, because anything that happened in the ocean was a mermaid’s business. These inconsiderate pirates were the trespassers here, not him. Why couldn’t they keep their battles on land like the rest of humanity? Why were humans always the perpetual thorn in the mermaid’s side?

Of course, it was partly his own fault that humans were such an inconvenience to him. Other mermaids had always told him not to get involved in humanity’s affairs unless he was willing to tap into his siren powers and lure unwitting sailors to their deaths. Those were the only times in which mermaids could reasonably interact with humans: when they were seducing and murdering them. 

But this mermaid had never once killed a human. No, he had an unfortunate habit of saving them.

It was pure dumb luck that the mermaid had been nearby when the battle broke out. He had simply been by himself (as he always was) hunting for fish to eat when the vibration of cannon blasts in the water drew his attention. His first instinct was to dart to safety so that he wouldn’t be either spotted or caught in the crossfire, and once he was a reasonable distance away, he popped his head above the water to watch the fight ensue.

Perhaps it was his solitary status that always drew him to the humans. Mermaids were not meant to be alone - they were social creatures by nature, and many a mermaid had ended up dead were they to strike off on their own. So perhaps it was his constant, crushing loneliness that had him consistently rescuing humans from otherwise watery graves. Or perhaps he was just defective. After all, a mermaid was supposed to eat humans, not save them. And they weren’t supposed to willingly travel alone either. This mermaid did both of those things.

Nonetheless, the mermaid did what he always did when he saw the man fall overboard. He rescued him.

He had to dive relatively deep before he caught the sleeve of the man’s tunic. The man had fallen a long way and was already unconscious, so once the mermaid had hauled the man’s head above the water, he stuck two fingers down the man’s throat to force him to vomit up the water he had inhaled. When the man didn’t show any signs of waking up, the mermaid wrapped an arm around his chest to keep him above water and turned contemplative eyes towards the battle that was still raging.

The mermaid had witnessed enough battles by now to know that an unconscious man never fared well in a fight. Besides, he would have to swim closer to have any chance of throwing the man back onto his ship’s deck, and he would rather not be spotted by the humans when they were currently armed to the teeth with muskets and cannons. A mermaid was usually a sailor’s natural enemy, and he knew that none of the humans would hesitate to blow him apart if they caught sight of him.

The mermaid tightened his hold around the man and watched the battle as he thought about what he should do. It clearly was not a fair fight; even the mermaid could see that. One of the ships was significantly smaller than the other, and the larger ship harboured both more crew members and more weapons. He had spent enough time watching humanity to know how these kinds of battles turned out, and he didn’t feel any particular desire to stick around and watch the smaller ship get obliterated to smithereens.

Luckily, the mermaid happened to know of a complex of caves relatively near to this spot, that had enough ground above water for the man in his arms to sleep off his injuries. The mermaid could keep watch until the man recovered, and then he would figure out what to do from there. 

It took longer than usual to reach the caves, due to the added weight of a six-foot-two unconscious man. The mermaid deposited the man onto a slab of rock then retreated to a comfortable distance in water, hopeful that the darkness of the cave would hide his presence were the man to suddenly wake up.

He wondered if the man required medical attention. He didn’t really understand what ‘medical attention’ actually meant, but he had heard humans talk about it after somebody had been injured. The man’s left hand was covered in white wrappings of some sort, which had now become soaked due to his detour in the sea. The mermaid didn’t know what to do if the man was truly injured - he usually just threw the humans he saved from the water back onto the decks of their ships before swimming away as fast as he could. This was the first time he had taken somebody away. He didn’t know what the protocol for stealing a human was, since he was pretty sure it had never been done before.

It took the rest of the day and an entire night for the man to finally wake up. The mermaid watched as he groggily blinked at his surroundings and tucked his wrapped left hand protectively into his side. The mermaid remained mostly submerged in the water, keeping only the very top of his head above so that he could watch the man.

The man sat up, suddenly alert and alarmed. “Where am I?” he shouted. “Who’s there?”

The mermaid had picked up a lot of human-speak from his time watching and rescuing sailors. He had learned to mimic their sounds and speak their language, but he had never had an actual conversation with a person before. He wasn’t sure what the etiquette was.

He must have made an involuntary movement in the water, because the man’s head darted in his direction. “Who’s there?” he repeated, fear sneaking its way into his voice. “Andrew, is that you?” His eyes widened and his face visibly drained of colour. “ _Riko_?”

The mermaid didn’t know who any of those people were, but he equally had no idea what to do. Should he show himself to the man and risk being attacked? Should he just leave? But surely the man would starve to death without any means of escaping the cave. Rescuing a human just to leave him here to die seemed rather futile.

The panicked tone in the man’s voice reached a fever pitch. “Riko, if you took me here to kill me, please just g-get it over with! I’m unarmed, all right? I can’t fight back!” 

_Unarmed_. The mermaid suddenly felt a whole lot braver.

Heart beating faster than usual, he raised himself above the water until his entire head and shoulders were exposed. He remained as far away from the man’s slab of rock as possible, but still close enough to be seen.

The man let out a choked-off yell and scrambled backwards until his back hit the cave wall. “ _Mermaid_ ,” he half-breathed, half-gasped, his voice too full of fear and shock to be at all threatening or accusatory.

“Human,” the mermaid replied. That was interesting. He had never heard what his voice sounded like in human-speak before. The mermaid-tongue involved more clicking and throat sounds than concrete vowels, since they generally used echolocation to communicate underwater. His voice sounded too musical to pass for human, even when speaking their language, but it was not altogether an unpleasant sound.

He watched the man and wondered what the man was seeing when he looked at him. He knew that the top half of his body looked identical to a human’s, save for the gills that adorned his neck. He always wondered if that was some sort of cosmic joke; as if the universe were laughing at the humans by having the last thing they ever saw when a mermaid killed them be a reflection of their own self. But the mermaid had never actually seen his own reflection, so he did not have the faintest idea what his features were like at all. He wondered if he looked in any way like the man currently staring at him. He hoped not. The man had an imperious look about him, even when he was quaking with fear.

“Are you going to kill me?” the man whispered in a trembling voice. 

“No,” replied the mermaid, still fascinated at the sounds coming out of his mouth.

The man closed his eyes briefly, and the mermaid wondered if he was praying. He had seen humans do that before, but he didn’t really know what it meant or what it was.

“Where is my ship?” the man whispered, eyes still closed. “My crew?”

“I do not know,” the mermaid replied truthfully.

The man brought a shaking fist to his mouth, pressing it against his lips. He opened his eyes but did not look at the mermaid, instead opting to raise his eyes to the cave ceiling. He opened his mouth but no sound came out. He closed it, swallowed hard, then tried again. “Why have you brought me here?”

The mermaid ignored the question and decided that a friendly approach was probably the best tactic. “What is your name?” he asked. He knew that all humans had names. All mermaids did too, but no human would ever possibly be able to pronounce his.

The man let out a desperate, wild laugh, eyes still pinned to the ceiling. “The fucking mermaid brought me back to its fucking lair, and now it wants to know my name.” His tone was approaching hysterical.

The mermaid cocked his head to the side. “What is a… ‘lair’?” He had never heard this word before. He had, of course, heard the word ‘fucking’ before. Sailors were fond of using that word.

The man dragged a hand over his face and let out a keening sound. “Am I dreaming? Is this real?”

“You are awake, if that is what you mean,” the mermaid said. Too right. The man had been asleep for far too long.

The man brought his hand away from his face and finally fixed his eyes on the mermaid again. The mermaid noticed that some sort of ink was etched onto his cheekbone - some kind of symbol, though he didn’t know what it meant. 

“Listen to me,” the man said, voice still trembling but suddenly more intent than it had been before. “I don’t know what you want or why you brought me here, but if you’re not going to kill me then I need to get back to my crew as soon as possible.” He waved his wrapped hand around in the air. “This needs to be re-bandaged or it will not heal properly. Do you know what that means?”

“No,” the mermaid said. He was feeling rather resentful now. He had just saved this man’s life, and the man did not seem very grateful at all. He edged slowly towards the cave’s entrance, wondering if he could just escape this situation altogether. This was what he got for getting involved with things he shouldn’t. He should have just stuck to either eating or avoiding humans, like all other mermaids did.

The man noticed him attempting to slip away, and he held out his unwrapped hand in a placating gesture. “Wait! You can’t leave! My name is Kevin, all right?”

The mermaid stopped. “Kev-in,” he enunciated, dragging out the syllables. 

The man - Kevin - nodded encouragingly. “Yes, that’s right. Do you have a name?”

The mermaid smirked. “You would not be able to say it.”

Kevin nodded again, taking this into his stride. “Is there something else I can call you? Something I would be able to say?”

The mermaid contemplated this. He had heard a lot of human names over the years - shouted across ship decks or muttered at night when the sea was silent, sometimes said with anger and sometimes with intimacy. He had heard names being spat or cursed or cooed or whispered, yelled in fear when someone was injured or thrown overboard, and sometimes just said naturally in a normal conversation, where there was no hard emotion or vitriol behind the word. The mermaid had discovered that the way somebody said a name contributed a lot to whether he liked the sound of it or not.

He remembered hearing one name he had liked quite a while ago, a name that sometimes still popped into his head when he was swimming along with the current or hunting for a fish. He couldn’t remember now why he liked the sound of the name, only that he simply did.

“You can call me Neil,” he said to Kevin.

Kevin swallowed audibly again and ran his right hand over his hair. “All right, Neil. The last thing I remember is being in battle on my ship. Do you know what happened? Do you know where my ship is now?”

The mermaid - he wondered if he should think of himself as Neil - watched Kevin and wondered what he should tell him. If he told him he had no idea where his ship was, there was a very probable chance that the man might cry, and he had no desire whatsoever to watch a grown human male start sobbing. He had witnessed people crying before, and it did not seem like a very pleasant pastime. 

“You fell overboard,” he told Kevin. “I…” He didn’t know what the word for ‘rescue’ was in human-speak. “I…” He made a grabbing motion with his hands, trying to illustrate saving the man from drowning.

Kevin squinted as he watched Neil make those ridiculous arm movements. “You...saved me? Is that what you’re trying to say?”

The mermaid nodded. “Yes. I...save you. Saved.” He did not quite have a full grasp on human tenses yet.

Kevin took a deep breath. “So I fell overboard in battle, you rescued me, brought me here, and now my ship is nowhere in sight?”

“Yes,” said the mermaid, pleased that Kevin finally had a full grasp on the situation.

Kevin did not appear as pleased as Neil was with these developments. “Why the hell did you bring me here to this… Is it a cave?”

“Yes. Cave,” the mermaid said. “I bring you because I cannot put you back on your ship. Battle was too dangerous.”

“Well, thanks for the rescue and all, but I need to get the fuck back to my crew.” Kevin squeezed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “Think, think…” he muttered to himself. The mermaid watched him as he squeezed his eyes shut in concentration. He thought that he sort of liked this whole conversation thing. He had been alone for so, so long. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had spoken with another mermaid.

Kevin’s eyes snapped open. “That’s it!” he exclaimed. Neil startled at his sudden eagerness. “We were going to dock at Palmetto before the Ravens ambushed us. If they survived, that’s where they’ll be!”

Neil - he decided he liked thinking of himself this way - didn’t know what a ‘Palmetto’ was, or what ‘Ravens’ were, but Kevin’s enthusiasm was better than him being on the verge of tears, so he took it as a win.

“Can you take me to Palmetto?” Kevin asked him eagerly.

Neil shook his head. “I do not know what that is.”

“It’s the nearest human port to where we are - assuming we’re not too far from where the ship was when I fell?”

“Not too far,” Neil confirmed.

“Good, then take me there now!”

Neil bristled at the command in his tone and edged away, so Kevin hastily backtracked. “Sorry - I mean _could_ you take me to Palmetto? You know what a port is, right?”

“Where human ships stop,” Neil offered.

“Yes, that’s right. Do you know where the port I’m talking about is?”

Neil had in fact been to the port in question - or as close as he could get without risking being seen. He sometimes liked to watch the humans load and unload their ships; he never knew what the strange boxes they transported were for, but he was more interested in watching the way they interacted. There were never any battles in ports the way there were when the ships were out at sea. They seemed like peaceful places.

“Yes,” he told Kevin.

Kevin closed his eyes in relief before opening them again. “Please take me there.” His voice was growing ragged with desperation.

Neil let out a single affirmative nod. He was always going to say yes to taking him there, but it had been fun to watch Kevin squirm for a bit. 

Kevin slowly edged across the rock towards the water. At the water’s edge, he stopped and sent Neil an assessing glance. “You’re not going to eat me if I get in this water, are you?”

“No!” Neil said, affronted.

Kevin sighed. “I suppose, even if you are, I’ll die either way.” He slipped into the water and waited cautiously for Neil to approach. He tried to hide the fact that he was cringing away as Neil drew closer, but Neil supposed he couldn’t blame him. Mermaids did, after all, eat humans. Neil was the exception, not the rule.

He hovered near Kevin until the man stopped cringing and appeared satisfied that he wasn’t going to be eaten - at least not in the present moment. He cautiously approached the mermaid, treading water when it became too deep to keep his feet planted at the bottom. 

“Put your arms around my…” Neil gestured to his shoulders, unsure what the word for them was in human-speak. Kevin helpfully supplied him with the human word for them before gingerly putting his arms around Neil from behind.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to carry me?” Kevin asked, sounding incredibly skeptical. “I’m a little heavy - _oh shit!_ ” His curse was cut off as Neil darted forward in the water without warning, his tail propelling him twenty feet in a mere second. He cut through the water like it was air, only very slightly impeded by Kevin’s weight around his shoulders.

“Okay,” Kevin gasped. “I suppose you’re stronger than you look.”

Satisfied that the man was going to shut up now, Neil continued forward, keeping both their heads above the water for the most part. They settled into a steady silence, the only sound being the splashing of Neil’s tail as it streamlined them forward. It was approaching afternoon, and the heat of the midday sun beat down mercilessly on the tops of their heads. Every so often, Neil would dive underwater for a moment in order to cool them both off. Kevin, spluttering and coughing, never seemed very appreciative of Neil’s thoughtfulness in this regard.

The sun was low in the sky, sending bright streaks of rose pink and deep orange across the horizon, by the time the Palmetto port came into view. Kevin let out a whoop of triumph, as if it were all his doing that he had reached his destination, and not at all thanks to the mermaid who was currently carrying him on his back. Neil only rolled his eyes.

Once the port was within human swimming distance, Neil halted in the water and waited for Kevin to slide off his back. Kevin’s eyes were desperate as he scanned the length of the port looking for his ship. His eyes snagged on one of the smallest ships in the dock, and his whole face lit up, like the sun rising over the sea in the early morning. 

“They made it,” he whispered reverently.

Neil felt a strange little jolt right in the centre of his chest as he realised that _he_ was the cause of the pure human happiness currently exhibited on this man’s face. He wasn’t sure what the jolt meant or if it was pleasant or not. Besides, he wasn’t even sure why Kevin was so happy. The boat he was making moon-eyes at was currently full of cannon-holes and looked about three moments from falling apart.

“I have to go see if they all survived,” Kevin muttered absently, half to himself. He turned to Neil, something suddenly awkward in his eyes. “I...I am not sure if you require payment of some sort, or…”

Neil blinked at him. He wasn’t entirely sure what ‘payment’ was - he knew it had something to do with when somebody did something for someone else, or when they presented a person with a tool or treasure. He knew that, whatever it was, sailors were obsessed with it, and it seemed to be their chief motivation for doing most things. 

“Go to your ship,” he said. In fact, he was confused as to why Kevin was still hovering.

“I…” Kevin swallowed and looked down. “Thank you...for rescuing me.”

Neil had heard humans thank each other before - usually after a favour of some sort - and he was pretty sure Kevin was almost as unfamiliar with the concept as he was. 

“You are welcome,” he said, which he knew to be the customary response.

Kevin gave a strange, jerky nod before abruptly turning around and swimming towards his ship. Neil watched him go, for some reason not quite ready to turn and dart away yet. It was his sudden reluctance to leave that meant he witnessed Kevin’s reunion with his shipmates as he climbed up the runged ladder, soaking and exhausted. He heard their whoops of delight and relief and confusion as they welcomed Kevin back on deck. They had been sure their crewmate was dead, but now he was suddenly alive, and he watched their celebration from afar. He knew he should swim away now, but his tail did not seem to be able to obey his mind.

The mermaid knew he should leave and forget, but for reasons unfathomable to himself, he stayed and watched.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Sorry about the current lack of Andreil but I promise it'll happen, don't you worry your pretty hearts.
> 
> Please leave a comment to let me know what you think!


	2. Lookout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin returns to the Foxes with some odd news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! First of all, thanks so much for all the lovely comments on the first chapter! I really wasn't expecting much of a response and I'm so happy people are actually taking an interest! You're all cool people.
> 
> Secondly, I just wanted to make a couple things clearer since I neither have the current time nor brainpower to do any coherent worldbuilding (just call me lazy now). The setting for the fic is quasi-historical but basically a fantasy setting; it's obviously set at sea but the Foxes are all from the Kingdom of Carolina which is ruled by the Moriyamas. I'm the first to admit this isn't the most stellar fantasy worldbuilding but I hope you'll all bear with me since I promise I do have an actual plot planned.
> 
> Warning for this chapter: Mild violence and one instance of the use of a homophobic slur (since it's AFTG I'm sure you can guess which character's mouth it comes out of). If you have any issues or queries about any of the content in this chapter you can message me on Tumblr here!
> 
> Now, onto the chapter!

The joy and relief of Kevin’s miraculous return to the _Foxhole_ was tempered somewhat by his outlandish story of being saved by, of all things, a _mermaid_.

“Do you think he hit his head when he fell overboard?” Matt whispered to Dan out of the corner of his mouth.

They were all gathered on the deck, surrounding Kevin, who was currently seated with a blanket around his shoulders and an oddly glazed look in his eye. Andrew, who had been near-murderous after Kevin’s fall, was stood like a sentry beside him, glaring hard at anybody who drew too close. 

They had all been convinced Kevin was dead. It had taken them a while to even realise he had fallen overboard, since they were all rather preoccupied with the battle and whatnot. Renee had managed to temporarily incapacitate Riko with a well-timed shot, and the cowardly captain had ordered a retreat before he could be hurt any further. It was a lucky escape, the Foxes knew, but their triumph at surviving Riko’s ambush was short-lived once they’d realised Kevin was missing.

Captain Wymack had ordered that they continue on to Palmetto regardless, much to the violent chagrin of Andrew, who had been incensed to say the least when news of Kevin’s apparent death reached his ears. The Foxes had all been pretty sure Andrew was going to snap and slit all their throats once they reached Palmetto, and he probably would have, had he not also been sworn to protect Nicky and Aaron. Not to mention the fact he had made some sort of deal or promise with the captain that ensured his membership of the _Foxhole_ crew. They were all pretty sure that deal involved not murdering any of his crewmates.

Needless to say, Kevin’s safe return was a relief in everybody’s minds. That is, until he relayed the story of _how_ exactly he survived.

“Kevin,” Nicky began, adopting the tone one would use when speaking to the severely mentally disturbed. “You do know that mermaids lure and eat humans, right? They don’t typically rescue us from certain death and then give us piggyback rides through the ocean.”

“I _know_ that!” Kevin said hysterically. “It doesn’t make it any less true!”

“I’m sure you _believe_ it’s true,” said Renee kindly, who was of the opinion that Kevin had experienced some sort of trauma that had led him to disassociate and come up with a more palatable story of his own survival.

“It is true!” Kevin insisted aggressively. “A mermaid rescued me from the water and brought me to a cave. His name was Neil and he had red hair and a red tail and agreed to bring me to Palmetto. Look over the deck if you don’t believe me! He might still be here!”

The Foxes exchanged looks with each other. Finally, Dan decided to retreat to the ship’s stern and looked out over the calm water of the port. A few moments later she returned and shook her head. “There’s nothing there, Kevin.”

“Then he must have left! Why won’t any of you imbeciles believe me?”

“All right, that’s enough,” Captain Wymack interjected, attempting to diffuse the situation before it grew any more heated. “We can talk about this later. What matters is that Kevin’s back and relatively unhurt. Aaron, get your kit and redress his bandages, will you? And...check him for any head injuries while you’re at it.”

The group dispersed as Aaron left to retrieve his medical kit. Andrew knelt in front of Kevin and grabbed his chin in a harsh grip, turning it roughly this way and that to check for any injuries. 

“I’m fine, Andrew,” Kevin said impatiently. Andrew was not impressed with his attitude.

“You went missing for a night and a day and returned with a cock-and-bull story about an altruistic mermaid,” Andrew said in a flat tone. “I will decide whether you are fine.”

“Andrew,” Kevin said, attempting to catch his eye. Andrew refused him out of spite for a few moments before flatly returning his gaze. Kevin stared him down hard. “I am telling you. It’s the truth.”

Andrew hummed noncommittally. At that moment, Aaron returned with his medical kit, so Andrew settled down beside them as Aaron redressed the bandages of Kevin’s broken left hand.

It had been almost a full year now since the Foxes had rescued Kevin from a pathetic piece of driftwood in the middle of the ocean. More than one of them had been in favour of throwing him back overboard once they’d realised who exactly they had saved. The tattooed number ‘2’ on Kevin’s left cheekbone marked him a high-ranking member of Captain Riko’s crew. Notorious throughout the seas as the deadliest pirate in the business, Riko helmed an entire fleet of pirate ships, terrorising the waters of every kingdom and destroying any poor bastard who stood in his way.

But Kevin had told Wymack and Andrew a secret known to a very select number of people: not only was Riko the most ruthless pirate on the waters, he was also the younger son of the King of Carolina, Kengo Moriyama, and his very illegal piracy was secretly sanctioned by the King himself in order to keep the royal coffers full and overflowing. Wymack, himself being an ex-King’s Navy sailor, had taken this news rather personally and agreed to take Kevin under the protection of the Foxes. 

Kevin had angered Riko after he had discovered this secret and confronted him, and in retaliation Riko had broken Kevin’s hand with the butt end of a musket and thrown him overboard, leaving him a single piece of driftwood in his own twisted version of ‘mercy’.

Riko had always expected Kevin to return to him at the first opportunity, and so now he harboured a rather personal grudge against the crew of the _Foxhole_ for keeping Kevin away from him.

Andrew had made a separate deal with Kevin, ensuring his own commitment to protection, but he was just now realising what he had gotten himself in for by agreeing to protect a man who seemed to make a habit of being flung over the decks of various ships.

Meanwhile, the other Foxes were gossiping about Kevin’s unbelievable story about a friendly mermaid.

“It can’t be true,” Allison said, leaning against the ship’s prow. “Mermaids are bloodthirsty monsters, right?”

Dan nodded agreement. “Mermaids don’t save people. They eat them.”

“Besides,” Allison mused, “even if I could believe a mermaid would help a human, I can’t possibly fathom any creature, mermaid or not, helping _Kevin_ after having an actual conversation with him.”

“Why not?” Renee asked, amused. “We did.”

“Well, that’s because Wymack is too soft-hearted and Minyard is a freak of nature who only deals with psychopaths similar to himself,” Allison retorted.

“It could be true,” Matt suggested, throwing a casual arm around Dan’s shoulders. “Stranger things have happened.”

A commotion from the other side of the deck interrupted their conversation and drew their attention. Nicky and Seth were having another of their regular arguments, and Seth looked ready to start throwing fists. Andrew approached the altercation and withdrew one of the knives he perpetually kept beneath the black wrappings around his forearms, giving the wicked-looking blade a casual, experimental twirl. At the sight of Andrew’s drawn weapon, Seth retreated away from Nicky but sent him one last threatening glower.

“You’ll regret this later, Hemmick,” he growled.

“Yeah, I’m sure I will,” Nicky said with a wide grin. He was looking extremely gleeful and confident now that Andrew had stepped into the fight.

The other Foxes sighed but still found themselves repressing smiles. Whether or not Kevin’s story about the mermaid was real, things were at least back to normal.

If only they would stay that way.

 

*****

 

The next day found the _Foxhole_ hoisting up its anchor and setting sail once again. The sea was a fortunate calm, the waves glistening beneath the bright light of the morning sun. They had spent the previous night divided between fixing up the ship after its encounter with the _Raven King_ and meeting up with their contacts, trading the loot they had stolen and gathered over the past few weeks, so now they were feeling fresh and ready for another month of piracy.

The next few days after that continued as they usually did, with the Foxes rotating through various jobs, taking turns at the helm, on lookout, working at the rigging or belowdecks. Each of them had their own favourite jobs depending on what they enjoyed doing. For example, Nicky enjoyed working in the kitchen because it meant he could secretly snack, whilst Dan preferred to be at the helm because she liked to be in control of the ship’s movement and direction.

Andrew’s favourite job, meanwhile, was lookout. 

This was because he could comfortably see everything going on from his perch on the crow’s nest. He could keep an eye on everybody on deck, could see any approaching ships from far away, and people were unable to sneak up on him, because he would always be able to see them coming. The only downside to the job was the unfortunate fact that he was deathly afraid of heights, but Andrew never allowed fear to stop him from doing anything.

Andrew also preferred to take the night shift, because he was able to find some peace and quiet after a long day of having to deal with the entire crew - the majority of whom Andrew, as a general rule, loathed. It wasn’t anything personal. Andrew just didn’t like people. 

Since he shared a cabin with Kevin, the only moments he ever found some time alone were his night shifts on lookout, and so he treasured these moments like a dragon hoarding gold. He was also usually the only volunteer for the night shift, since everybody else valued their sleep like normal people.

The stars were always bright and legion at night on the open ocean, but Andrew preferred to watch the reflection of them on the water rather than look at the sky. The undulating movements of the waves distorted the reflection of the night, and it often felt like the ship were floating right through the universe itself, with the stars above, below and around it. Andrew had a keen and acute sense of his own insignificance in these moments. He was nothing, really, in the grand scheme of it all.

After a few nights keeping lookout and steadily watching the water, Andrew began to notice a series of strange disturbances. Every so often, a patch of water close to the hull of the ship would ripple, as if there were something moving about right below the surface. It only lasted for a moment and it only happened a couple of times a night. If it were anyone else on lookout, they likely wouldn’t have even noticed it, but Andrew noticed because Andrew noticed everything.

He began bringing a spyglass up with him every night, to better see the surface of the water. Every time he noticed a ripple, he darted the spyglass up to his eye, but he was always, always too slow. By the time he had the spyglass focused on the spot, the ripple would be gone.

Andrew’s niggling obsession began to carry into the daytime. He would find himself pausing in a job to peer over the railing, watching the water for any sign of a telltale ripple. Several times, Captain Wymack barked at him asking what the hell he thought he was doing, and could he please for the love of all that was holy start pulling his weight around here. This was generally the point at which Andrew would flip him off and continue on with whatever it was he was supposed to be doing.

In addition to this troublesome new development, Andrew had the added stress of dealing with Kevin’s bull-headed insistence that he had been rescued by a mermaid, becoming more and more obstinate every time one of the Foxes said they didn’t believe him. Plus, Andrew still had to deal with Nicky and Seth’s continued aggression, where Andrew would usually have to step in before Nicky got himself attacked. Andrew could also tell that Seth was growing increasingly annoyed at Kevin’s outlandish tales, and he suspected it was all going to come to a head soon enough.

Sure enough, Andrew was right, and everything came to blows after the Foxes had successfully looted a passing ship and taken all their treasures. They were divvying up the wares on deck following a relatively easy fight, when a slow smile spread across Seth’s face. Andrew prepared for the worst.

“Hey, Kevin,” Seth started in a snide voice. “You gonna give any treasure to your little mermaid buddy?”

“Fuck off,” Kevin said calmly.

“Come on,” Seth taunted. “Doesn’t your imaginary friend deserve some of the spoils, seeing how he saved your life and all?”

“Gordon,” Wymack warned. “Knock it off.”

“Sorry, Cap,” Seth said, “but I’m getting a little sick of indulging our little prince here in his precious fantasies. If it had been anyone else spouting stupid stories about mermaids, we would’ve been kicked off the crew long ago.”

“That’s not true and you know it,” Wymack replied. “Leave Kevin alone.”

“Yeah, Seth,” Nicky jumped in, ever-eager to antagonise Seth. “Fuck off.”

“You shut your mouth too, you little faggot,” Seth spat at Nicky.

Andrew felt his body tense. Seth’s foul views and big mouth were nothing new, but they still never failed to start a fight. Andrew had punched Seth before when his mouth had grown bigger than his brain, and he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. 

“You’re so charming, Seth,” Nicky said conversationally. “I wonder why Allison keeps breaking up with you. It can’t be because you have such a winning personality.”

Seth rose to his feet, squaring his shoulders, fisting his hands into balls. “You got a problem with me, Hemmick?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do,” Nicky replied, standing up too. Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to come off very intimidating, since Seth had at least four inches on him and was considerably more muscular. Andrew steadily rose to his feet, assessing the situation. He was growing bored of constantly having to rescue Nicky from Seth, but if Seth took one more step towards his cousin he wouldn’t hesitate to get involved.

“Guys, cool it off, will you?” Dan demanded. “We just landed ourselves a huge loot, we should be celebrating, not fighting.”

“I’ll celebrate once I’ve knocked this asshole down a peg or two,” Seth growled.

“I’d like to see you try,” Nicky retorted.

Despite Nicky and Seth being the centre of the disturbance, most of the crew’s eyes were on Andrew. They knew that, despite Seth’s superior size and build, Andrew was the biggest threat in any altercation. So it was because they were all watching him that they all saw the exact moment Andrew decided to get involved. It was straight after Seth punched Nicky directly in the face.

Andrew moved like lightning, whipping one of his knives out with his hand and kicking Seth in the back of the knee with his foot. Seth’s leg gave out and Andrew grabbed him by the back of the neck, using his momentum to push Seth several feet and shove him up against the ship’s railing.

He pressed the knife into the small of Seth’s back and leaned forward so he could speak into the man’s ear. “I warned you what I would do if you hurt what was mine.”

Seth tried to lean away from Andrew, but Andrew pressed the knife harder, not quite breaking the skin yet. “You have no right to look so surprised,” Andrew continued. “The deal has always been simple. Don’t touch my things and I won’t touch you. It is not my fault you are incapable of following orders.”

Seth leaned back enough to free his windpipe. “Fuck you, freak,” he spat. “I don’t follow your orders.”

Andrew contemplated this. “Have it your way,” he said, and pushed Seth right over the railing.

The reaction from the others was immediate and intense. Everybody screamed and there were a few haphazard shouts of “Holy shit!” The crew all raced to the railing as one, leaning over to see Seth disappear below the water. There was a stunned silence, and Allison was the first to round on Andrew.

“What the fuck have you done?” she shrieked, but Andrew wasn’t paying her any attention. He was leaning over the railing himself, watching the spot where Seth had hit the water.

“Quick, we’ve gotta throw down a rope!” Matt yelled.

“Holy shit,” said Nicky, stunned and cradling his bruised cheek.

“Does anyone know where the hell the rope is?” Dan hollered.

“Holy shit,” Nicky repeated.

“Andrew Joseph Minyard, if Seth dies you are suffering a whole world of goddamned consequences,” Wymack roared.

“Holy _shit_ ,” said Nicky.

The rest of the Foxes descended into a frenzied panic, until Andrew was the only one left who was still looking over the edge of the ship. If the others found it at all odd that Andrew didn’t seem to be moving at all, they were a little too distracted at the moment to take real note of it. Which meant Andrew was the only one who saw something incredibly strange and incredibly interesting occur in the water.

The others didn’t notice what was happening until something came soaring over the ship’s edge and landed with a hard crash on the deck. They all startled in alarm and turned to find a sopping wet Seth curled in a ball on the deck, hacking and coughing and cradling his stomach. Everybody halted where they were and stopped to stare, aghast, at Seth who, for all it appeared, had just come flying right out of the water.

Wymack’s eyes flickered to Andrew, who was paying no attention to Seth at all, but was still leaning over the ship’s railing, staring hard down at the water, an intent and searching look in his gaze.

“Seth!” Allison cried, rushing to him and cradling his head in her lap. “What happened, baby?”

Seth coughed up a mouthful of water. “Something - something fucking _grabbed_ me is what happened. It grabbed me and threw me out of the goddamned water. What the damn _hell_ -” He broke off for another coughing fit.

As Seth’s coughs subsided, a shocked silence descended over the crew of the _Foxhole_. Andrew finally turned around, but he looked only at Kevin, something pensive in his eyes. Wymack’s eyes flickered between Andrew and Kevin, until understanding finally settled into his mind. 

“Kevin,” Wymack said, breaking the fragile silence. “What was that you’ve been telling us about a mermaid?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought!


	3. Leap of Faith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew takes matters into his own hands.

The mermaid was not quite sure why he was following the boat.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the ship’s crew members seemed to regularly fall overboard. They were clearly in need of some sort of assistance, and the mermaid - _Neil_ \- did not currently have anything better to do. 

If only his old pack could see him now, he thought grimly as he swam along in the wake of the ship. His hatch-father would probably rip him to pieces if he witnessed him trailing the underside of a human boat like some sort of lovesick barnacle. Neil bore enough scars on his skin to know the consequences of angering a mermaid like the one who had fathered him.

Mermaids did not have the same concept of family as humans did. To a mermaid, their pack was their family, regardless of who was related to whom. But Neil had remained with his mother and father’s pack for many years before deserting it, so his family had been his relatives anyway. Now that Neil was alone, he truly had no family in the world. He was nothing. 

Perhaps this was why he stayed to follow the ship on its course through the sea. Perhaps he was tired of being nothing.

Kevin had been the first real interaction Neil had in years. He had crossed paths with other mermaids every so often in his time by himself, but he tried not to speak with them if he could help it, too afraid they would try to convince him to join their pack and start luring and murdering humans. Kevin was a human who had spoken to him, had thanked him for saving him and hadn’t hurt him in any way. Kevin was proof that Neil was right in refusing to hurt humans. He wasn’t defective after all.

He was still caught up in his alternating thoughts when something plunged into the water and scared him out of his wits. He pulled up short and caught sight of a heavy body sinking down into the murky depths, little bubbles drifting up around the mass and bobbing to the surface. Neil frowned for a moment. There hadn’t been any sign of an ensuing battle, so why had someone fallen overboard? 

He shook himself and darted forward anyway. He wrapped his hands around the man’s (he was almost sure it was a man, though it wasn’t Kevin this time) upper arms and hauled him up. The man was heavier than Kevin had been, but Neil possessed mermaid strength, and he dragged the man up to the surface of the water. Rather than waiting like he had with Kevin, he switched his grip on the body and, with every ounce of strength he had, launched the man back up into the air and over the railing of the sip.

As quick as he could, Neil disappeared back beneath the waves. He wasn’t ready for another conversation like the one he’d had with Kevin yet. He didn’t know how the rest of the crew would react to being stalked by a mermaid, and he was not sure he wanted to find out. He would prefer to forever remain their silent, unseen guardian than have them poke and prod him or, at worst, shoot him on sight.

Still, Neil was pretty sure there had been _somebody_ looking over the ship’s edge as he had thrown the man to safety. He couldn’t be sure that whoever it was had seen him, but hoped if they had, that they were kind enough to keep their mouth shut.

 

*****

 

“What did the mermaid look like?” Captain Wymack asked Kevin.

The crew was huddled around the table belowdecks eating dinner Renee had cooked earlier. It was fish, which was a running theme in most of their meals. None of them ever complained except for Nicky, who claimed he needed a various diet to keep his skin healthy, and Allison, who was used to much more refined cuisine due to her noble upbringing.

Once the hysteria around Seth’s explosive reappearance on deck had died down, the crew had realised that perhaps it was time to begin taking Kevin’s mermaid story seriously. After all, there didn’t seem to be any other explanation for Seth being grabbed in the water and launched back onto the ship like he weighed no more than a sack of soggy potatoes.

“I have already told you,” Kevin snapped sulkily, in response to Wymack’s question. He was feeling a tad resentful that they all still had yet to apologise for making fun of him for days.

“Tell us again,” Wymack said, unfazed.

Kevin sighed but obliged. “He had auburn hair and a lot of scars. His tail was red and scaled.”

The others waited a beat before realising Kevin wasn’t going to elaborate any further.

“That’s it?” Dan asked.

Kevin blinked, confused. “What else did you expect?”

“Well, what colour were his eyes?” asked Nicky.

Kevin looked baffled. “Why on earth should that matter? And why on earth would I notice?”

“You don’t notice the colour of people’s eyes?” Dan asked confusedly.

Kevin bristled. “Of course I do! His eyes were blue! I think.”

“What shade of blue?” Nicky asked, a sly, teasing smile spreading across his face.

“All right, enough,” Wymack said. He turned to Seth, who had since dried off from his trip in the water and kept shooting dark glares Andrew’s way. Andrew, for his part, was either ignoring or didn’t even notice Seth’s ire. “Seth?” Wymack asked. “You didn’t see anything?”

“No,” Seth snapped. “All I remember is falling in the water and being pushed back out. I didn’t see no goddamned mermaids.”

“You didn’t see any,” Kevin said.

Seth stared at him. “That’s what I just said.”

“You used a double negative,” Kevin explained. “You should have said-”

“Kevin,” Aaron advised from beside him, “I’d drop it if I were you.”

Kevin wisely shut his mouth.

“What did you say the mermaid’s name was?” Renee asked Kevin in an attempt to change the subject.

“Neil,” said Kevin.

“Huh,” said Matt. “Wonder why he’s got a human name.”

“He said I wouldn’t be able to pronounce his real name,” Kevin explained.

“That makes sense,” Wymack mused aloud. “Mermaid-speak is similar to dolphin.”

They all stared at him.

“What?” Wymack said defensively. “I’ve been a sailor for twenty-five years. Obviously I’ve come across a few mermaids before.”

“Ever meet any friendly ones?” Matt asked.

“No,” Wymack replied. “I distinctly remember them all trying their damnedest to lure me into the ocean and eat me.”

“Pretty lucky that we end up with the one friendly mermaid in all of history,” Dan remarked.

“Or unlucky,” Seth groused. “What if the thing goes feral and attacks us all? I don’t trust it.”

“It literally _just_ saved your life, like an hour ago,” Matt reminded him.

“‘He’,” Kevin said, sounding suddenly uncharacteristically quiet. “Don’t… Don’t call him ‘it’.”

Aaron scoffed. “Don’t tell us you’re getting attached to the mermaid.”

Kevin shook his head. “I’m not. It’s just… We’ve got real proof that he’s a creature capable of rational thought and independent action. It seems wrong to call him ‘it’.”

“Aw, look at that,” Allison mocked. “Kevin’s sticking up for his little fishy friend.” She was still shaken up after Seth’s fall, and when Allison was shaken up, she grew even more prickly than usual.

“Mermaids aren’t even fish, they’re mammals-” Kevin started hotly, but was silenced by another pointed look from Aaron.

“Alright, we’re getting off topic here,” Wymack interjected. “So, what we’ve got so far is this: Kevin fell overboard and was saved by a mermaid, who took him back to the ship at his request. Then Seth fell overboard and was grabbed and thrown back on deck. So it seems Kevin’s mermaid may possibly be following the ship.”

“Well, how do we know it was even the same mermaid that saved Seth?” Nicky asked.

“It seems pretty unlikely that we’d run into two different friendly mermaids. They’re not exactly a common occurrence,” Dan pointed out.

“In fact, we don’t actually have proof that it was even a mermaid at all that saved Seth,” Nicky added excitedly. “It could’ve been...I don’t know, a porpoise!”

“A porpoise with arms and super-strength?” Wymack asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Good point,” Nicky conceded, drooping in his seat.

“The only sea creature with the means and strength to throw somebody that far is a mermaid,” Wymack continued. “It’s a shame nobody caught a glimpse of him. It must’ve been a pretty impressive sight.”

“Hang on,” Nicky said slowly, turning to face his quieter cousin, who was sat in the corner closest to the wall. “Andrew was looking over the railing when it happened, weren’t you, Andrew? You must’ve seen something, right?”

Everybody turned to Andrew, who had been absently chewing his fish, staring into space and appearing not to hear the conversation around him. At the sound of his own name, he glanced around and found himself suddenly the centre of the crew’s attention. For a few moments, he continued chewing slowly, keeping the crew waiting for his response. At length, he swallowed his mouthful and gave the group a considering look. After another long stretch of silence, he said: “No.”

They all deflated. “You didn’t see _anything?_ ” Nicky pressed.

“No.”

The crew sat back, disappointed. Wymack was still eyeing Andrew, a whisper of skepticism in his gaze. “Don’t think you’re off the hook yet, Minyard,” he warned. “You’re still facing serious consequences for throwing a crewmate overboard.”

Andrew didn’t appear particularly concerned with his impending punishment. Seth was still giving him the stink eye and Allison did not look too happy with him either, but Andrew just carried on eating his fish and staring into space. The crew had not really expected any other sort of reaction from him. Andrew’s reactions were mostly limited to when he responded to violence against the people he protected with violence of his own. In any other scenario, Andrew may as well not even be there for all he contributed to a group conversation. This was something his cousin and twin were accustomed to, but the others still had trouble coming to terms with.

Andrew’s apathetic shut-down appeared to have stalled the conversation entirely. The crew finished their meal in relative harmony, with Nicky piping up every so often to loudly lament the sheer blandness of his food, earning annoyed grunts from Wymack and a few well-timed eye-rolls from Aaron. They weren’t exactly holding hands around campfires and singing hymns, but at least they weren’t arguing. That was a win, as far as the Foxes were concerned.

 

*****

 

Andrew was minding his own business at the helm the next day when he noticed Wymack approaching him in his peripheral. He had been expecting the bollocking to come sooner or later, so it wasn’t a surprise. Andrew just wanted him to get it over with.

Instead of opening his mouth, however, the Captain merely stopped beside Andrew at the wheel and folded his arms. Andrew glanced at him and saw that Wymack wasn’t even paying him any attention, but was instead looking out over the open sea, a far-away glint in his dark eyes. It seemed that Andrew would be dealing with a contemplative Captain today, rather than the righteous anger he had been expecting. Wymack wasn’t a man of many principles, but the attempted murder of a fellow crewmate was an act bound to at least stretch the limits of what he would tolerate.

For a while, the only sound between them was the creaking of the wheel as Andrew kept them on-course. If Wymack had simply been desiring quiet companionship, Andrew silently wondered why he hadn’t sought out Renee. Serenity was her forte, not his.

Finally, Wymack spoke: “You weren’t trying to kill Gordon.” It wasn’t a question.

Even after three years aboard the _Foxhole,_ Andrew still found that there were instances where the Captain was actually able to surprise him. Wymack’s ability to see past all facades and intuit only the real truth of a situation was a quality that Andrew… if not admired, then at least quasi-respected him for.

Andrew didn’t say any of this, of course. “What makes you think that,” was what he said.

“If you wanted to kill him, you would’ve just stuck him with that knife you had pinned to his back,” Wymack explained in a dry tone. “You wouldn’t have wasted the extra effort of lumping him over the edge. You don’t care enough to be dramatic.”

“It appears you have me sussed,” Andrew replied flatly. 

Wymack offered a half-smile, then reached out to adjust the position of the wheel beneath Andrew’s grip. Andrew didn’t appreciate the helping hand.

“So I’ve been thinking to myself,” Wymack continued. 

“Congratulations.”

The Captain soldiered on as if Andrew hadn’t even spoken. “What would motivate my resident rabid guard dog to go to the effort of heaving a two-hundred pound man over the railing of a ship? I would’ve been lost for answers, if it weren’t for what happened after.”

Andrew, who didn’t care whether Wymack knew his true intentions but remained uncooperative by nature, simply said in a bored tone; “Enlighten me, O Captain. I can’t quite remember.”

“Your bullshit might work on others, Minyard, but it doesn’t on me. I don’t know if you saw something in the water or what, but my gut’s telling me you had some inkling or idea that you’re not letting on. You wouldn’t risk your position on my crew by killing someone for throwing a punch. Not when you have promises to keep.” 

Wymack turned to look Andrew directly in the eye. “They all think you’re unpredictable, but between you and me, you’re the most reliable sailor on this damn boat. As long as you’ve got people to protect, you’ll defend this ship and your right to stay on it to your last dying breath.”

Once Wymack made sure those words had made their impact, he leaned back out of Andrew’s space and folded his arms. “That being said, if you ever endanger a crewmate like that again - even if you think they’ll survive - I’m putting you on fish-gutting duty from now until the end of time.”

When Andrew simply stared at him and didn’t respond, Wymack arched an expectant eyebrow. “Is that understood?”

“Understood,” Andrew, who had no particular desire to spend the rest of his days smelling of fish guts, replied.

Wymack nodded his satisfaction. “As it stands, you’re only on fish duty for a week, since I’m not idiotic enough to believe you’d actually try to kill a crewmate when you know it’ll get you kicked off this ship. Whatever you saw that made you do what you did, I don’t care if you keep it to yourself as long as it doesn’t endanger my Foxes.” 

The Captain then fixed Andrew with a dry look. “Now get to the kitchens. The fish await you.”

In a way, Wymack had been right. Andrew had not really been trying to kill Seth, even if he was of the opinion that Seth’s death wouldn’t be a major loss on the world. In fact, Seth dying would probably solve a couple of Andrew’s current problems. It would certainly mean he’d worry less about Nicky. But no, Andrew hadn’t really been expecting Seth to die. After all, the man could swim, and the crew had a rope precisely for the kind of emergencies that involved somebody tipping overboard. And anyway, there was a ladder built into the side of the ship.

Andrew had been testing a theory. Which, incidentally, had been proven correct. It was to do with those godforsaken ripples he kept seeing; the only explanation was that there was something following the ship, bobbing just beneath the surface of the water. So Andrew had thought about Kevin’s mermaid story, connected the dots, and decided to see if Kevin’s new friend was still feeling altruistic.

He hadn’t told the others what he’d seen in the water after he’d thrown Seth overboard because he didn’t think it was that important - they already fully believed a mermaid was following the ship, so Andrew had no real need to confirm their suspicions. And whoever it was he’d seen in the water (he’d just barely been able to make out arms and a torso) had disappeared as soon as they’d launched Seth away. If they - he? - was a shy type, then they’d definitely chosen the wrong crew to follow.

If Andrew had his way, he’d throw someone else over to see if the mermaid would react in the same fashion. He still hadn’t fully decided if the creature was a threat or not. As it was, the Foxes probably wouldn’t react too kindly to Andrew constantly lobbing them all into the ocean, so he would have to come up with a more pragmatic way of testing things out. Maybe he could do it while someone was asleep and blame it on sleepwalking. At least a couple of them were definitely dumb enough to believe that.

It took a couple of days spent gutting fish and smelling like rotten death before Andrew finally caved and decided to ask for advice on what to do. Since the idea of asking Kevin, Nicky or Aaron for advice was almost laughable and Wymack would probably say it wasn’t Andrew’s problem, he decided to go to the person best suited for this sort of thing, and the only person aboard this ship who actually seemed to enjoy talking to Andrew: Renee.

He found her at the rigging after his fish-gutting duty was over. When she noticed Andrew approaching her she stopped what she was doing and a bright smile broke across her face, all laughter lines and straight pearly teeth. Renee always looked as if seeing Andrew was the best part of her day. He hadn’t yet figured out whether it was genuine or just another facet of her nice-person act.

It was an act - the whole nice thing. Renee Walker was a fake-it-till-you-make-it sort of person. As in, fake being a kind, devout, gods-fearing hippy and then maybe one day that was who she would become. At the core of it, Renee was really more like Andrew than anyone. Her childhood had churned out a lawless, violent murderer, and it wasn’t until recently that she found religion and joined the Foxes. They were criminals, but still a step above those Renee used to cavort with. As it stood, she was now the only religious person aboard the ship. And the only person who seemed to actually like Andrew.

Despite his pathological protectiveness over his relatives and Kevin, Andrew still barely spoke to them if he could help it. The only person he ever actively sought out was Renee. Whether the other Foxes appreciated the friendship between the two or not (they didn’t), they had no say in the matter. However, any suspicions the crew had of something more than friendly going on between the pair were, thankfully, unfounded. Renee, for all her kind smiles and hidden violence, was decidedly not Andrew’s type. 

As it was, Andrew had discovered he didn’t find Renee’s cheerfulness quite as annoying as anyone else’s. She greeted him with a warm, “Hello, Andrew,” and he leaned against the mizzenmast next to her.

“Want to spar?” he asked by way of greeting.

She nodded and headed towards the weapons chest that was kept beside the helm. She produced two fencing swords and handed one to Andrew, which he gave a twirl to test out the feel and balance. Fencing swords were light, thin and blunt by design; intended to lightly bruise rather than mortally injure. This was lucky for Renee and Andrew, whose vicious styles of fighting meant they were equally likely to accidentally hurt somebody as to do it on purpose.

They headed towards starboard deck and turned to face each other. Renee shook out her wispy, pastel-white hair and manoeuvred into a preparatory position; Andrew mirrored her.

Then, quick as lightning, they were sparring. Andrew ducked and parried as Renee went immediately on the offensive, taking quick, light steps forwards and backwards. The two were usually pretty evenly matched when they sparred - which was often - and today was no different. Every time Renee gained ground, Andrew would push her back with equal force, until they were practically conducting a dance across the deck.

“Something on your mind?” Renee asked as Andrew lunged close enough for their swords to connect an inch away from her face.

“Perhaps,” Andrew grunted as she pushed him back. She went for a side thrust, forcing him to twirl away, and the metallic cling of their swords meeting again echoed in his ears.

“Anything I can help with?” Renee asked breathlessly as she dodged another attack from him.

“Depends,” Andrew replied, dancing to the side and aiming a thrust under her guard. Renee leapt out of the way just in time and pranced back towards him, their swords clanging and parrying in quick succession. “Know anything about mermaids?”

He caught the edge of Renee’s sharp smile before she twisted away from him and took a lunging step back towards the helm. He followed her, ready to attack, but she brought her sword up before his made contact with her body.

“I suspected you knew more than you were letting on,” Renee mused as their blunt blades came together once again. “I’m sorry, but I know next to nothing about them. You should talk to Kevin or Wymack if you’re concerned about our little friend. Then again, we haven’t seen a sign of him for a week.”

Renee and the others thought that maybe the mermaid had left the ship and swum away after saving Seth. They didn’t see what Andrew did when he was on his night watches. The ripples were still there, appearing like magic at the surface of the water every night. Their ‘little friend’ was still with them, but was for whatever reason reluctant to show his face.

“Something tells me he’s still sticking around,” Andrew told Renee as they whirled across the deck. They pranced past Matt and Dan at the rigging, who turned to stare at them for a few moments until Wymack yelled at them from the other side of the ship to get back to work.

“I know that look,” Renee told Andrew as she aimed an attack at his midsection. “You’ve got an idea in your head and you want to ask me if it’s a good one.”

“I don’t ask for permission,” Andrew reminded her as he blocked her attack.

“Not permission,” Renee clarified as she cornered him into the beam of the mizzenmast. She ducked under Andrew’s too-slow block and brought her blade up against his throat. “Reassurance.”

Andrew dropped his blade and held up his hands. “Yield.”

Satisfied, Renee stepped back and dropped her sword hand to her side. They were both breathing heavily, hot sweat plastering their hair to their foreheads. Andrew twisted his neck from side to side and shook out his arms to loosen out the exercise-stiffened muscles, then turned an expectant gaze on Renee. “Well?”

She stretched her arms above her head and gave him a placid smile. “Whatever idea you have, I trust you to make the decision you think is best. You and I know listening to your gut is usually what leads to the best outcomes.”

“I haven’t even told you what I’m planning.”

She gave a low chuckle. “If you told me, then I’d be obligated to tell the Captain, and the fact you haven’t told him yet means you think it’s something he wouldn’t approve of.”

As always, her astuteness made him roll his eyes. “Don’t you have some praying to do?”

She laughed again. “Good fight, Andrew.”

Her words still echoed in his head later that night as he took up post on the crow’s nest. Everyone else had gone to bed belowdecks, and like always, Andrew allowed himself a few moments to pretend he was the only living soul out here on the ocean. The stars were bright tonight, pinpricks of silver light stretching out across the vast black sky. Andrew counted out all the constellations he could see.

A ripple drew his eye. At the water below the portside. Andrew waited, and a few minutes later another ripple undulated out, a few feet away from the first. Their friend was feeling active tonight. Andrew stared at the water in contemplation for a few moments, made a decision, and began crawling down the beam of the mainmast. 

When his feet hit the deck, he marched over to the portside and leaned against the railing, craning his neck down at the water. He watched intently for a couple of minutes, as if the force of his gaze could somehow cause it to penetrate through the obscuring black water. All he could see was the reflection of the stars.

Andrew sighed and placed a foot on the first rung of the railing, heaving himself upward. He was going to have to test out their friend’s altruism himself. A part of him had known it would come to this - Andrew had always been the type who had to test something out himself before he believed it. It was why he had never believed in the gods.

“You’d better be feeling friendly,” Andrew told the water before leaping over the railing and giving his body over to gravity.

The fall took longer than expected, or maybe Andrew’s mind artificially stretched out the seconds. Even so, when his body hit the water, he could not have been less prepared. The cold was so intense that it stung like fire, and the muffled roaring in his ears momentarily brought back memories he would rather forget. He forcibly turned his mind off as he let himself sink down into the water, mentally giving it ten seconds before he would start swimming for where he knew the jacob’s ladder was.

He didn’t register the feeling of hands curling around his upper arms until he realised he was being hauled upwards. His lungs started telling him to breathe on the way up, but he kept his mouth determinedly closed while opening his eyes. All he could see was black murky atmosphere, but when he looked up, the light of the stars and moon illuminated the shape of the person - creature? - holding him. He couldn’t make out facial features; just a vague, blurred outline of a head and shoulders.

Something knocked him in the backs of the knees, and he felt the rough texture of scales scrape along his skin where the legs of his breeches had hiked up in the water. The tail? Definitely the tail. Andrew’s eyes started to sting just before his head broke the surface and he gasped for air. 

He tried to keep his eyes open but the stinging forced them shut. The hands curled around his biceps shifted until they were braced against the small of his back. _No,_ Andrew wanted to say. _Wait. I want to see you_. But all that came out was a spluttering, watery cough.

Before Andrew could take in enough air to protest, the hands on him pushed with a strength that took his breath away, and Andrew was soaring out of the water. The pain as he hit the deck knocked through his body, and he instinctively curled up on his side. He coughed and gagged, trying to dredge up the strength to breathe, but it took a good few seconds before his lungs started working properly and his chest could heave through the pain of impact. 

It took several tries before Andrew could push himself up to his knees. He scrubbed at his eyes, determinedly blinking the sting away. He took a few steadying breaths before pushing himself to his feet. Just as he managed to stand up, the cold set in and he started shivering, the wind crawling under his wet clothes and raising goosebumps.

Andrew took a few steps until he was leaning over the railing again. His cowardly saviour was gone, back beneath the surface of the water. For all Andrew knew, he was just below the waves, watching Andrew the way Andrew was watching the water. 

_Why don’t you show yourself? You showed yourself to Kevin._

Andrew’s teeth chattered, and his limbs began to shiver. He should really get inside into the warmth and dry himself off.

If Andrew had been the type to laugh, he would be in hysterics right about then. As it was, he settled for a barely-there twitch of the lips, confident that the only witnesses were the stars and the sea and the mermaid hovering just below the black line of the water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought!


	4. Ocean Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil finally meets some Foxes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone!
> 
> Geez. I can't believe it's been almost 6 whole months since I last posted a chapter. I am so so sorry. If anyone's still keeping an eye on updates, feel free to berate me in the comments bc I deserve it.
> 
> But luckily my exams are almost over now so I'm almost able to fully return to this story! I'm super super sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out, but school was quite figuratively biting me in the asscheeks. 
> 
> It feels so good to be able to return to this story of pirates and mermaids and the ocean. If anyone's returning to it with me, pls let me know what you think <3

Neil hid just below the surface of the water, gazing up at the outline of the bedraggled man leaning over the ship’s railing. The man was staring intently into the patch of ocean that Neil inhabited - so intently that Neil almost thought the man was able to see him, but he knew he couldn’t.

Neil, though, possessed acute mermaid vision, and he could see the man perfectly well. It was strange, to stare at somebody you knew couldn’t stare back, no matter how much they tried. It felt safe, though, to remain hidden. To be the invisible guardian the accident-prone members of this crew clearly sorely needed.

This marked the third time Neil’d had to rescue one of these unfortunate sailors from drowning. It occurred to him that all the sailors he’d had to rescue had been male, which meant that either there were no women on this crew, or the women were smart enough not to find themselves constantly falling overboard and needing to be saved from drowning. Maybe men, as a rule, were just more helpless.

He would have begun to wonder if falling into water was merely a peculiar pastime of these humans, if he hadn’t spoken to Kevin when he’d rescued him and personally heard the fear and terror lacing his voice. Kevin had been unwillingly lurched into the water due to the impact of a battle cannon, and Neil was rather sure the second man he’d saved had been pushed overboard.

 _This_ man, though - this man was alone on deck at night, and there were no cannons in sight. Which prompted the question: how in all the world had he fallen overboard? 

Neil had been near the surface of the water when it happened, and he’d watched the man fall. For a single, strange moment, he had glimpsed an odd look in the man’s eyes as he had plummeted through the air towards the waiting water. It was the look that Neil had often seen in sailors’ eyes when they were under the influence of the siren song, when they pitched themselves over boats and into the arms of mermaids waiting to eat them up. It was the chasmic, hollow look of a man who might just welcome death with a smile.

Neil began to wonder if the man had simply jumped over. If he had been hoping not to be rescued at all.

Through the distortion of the water and the dark shroud of night, Neil’s acute eyes could make out the man’s pale hair. He was still leaning over the railing and staring into the water, as if he were expecting Neil to give up and show himself. He was silhouetted by the legions of stars in the sky, and they set an eerie silver glow to the line of his shoulders. The moon was positioned just behind his head, so that it encircled the outline of his face, making his skin bright and pale in the darkness. 

Neil sunk deeper below the surface of the water, letting the murky depths engulf him. The cut of the man’s gaze seemed to pierce him right through, even though Neil knew the man couldn’t see him. He looked like a fixture of the night, standing there unmoving, as distant and permanent and terrible as the stars. 

Though Neil was the creature who was supposed to be the monster, he couldn’t hold back the sharp thought that this human was the real predator, and if Neil wasn’t careful, he would end up being prey.

 

*****

 

The next morning found Kevin sprawled out on the deck surrounded by scattered papers and open books. The Foxes gave him a wide berth, rightly assuming that Kevin, when in full research mode, would bite any of their heads off if they dared approach him. Even Wymack left him to his own devices.

Only Andrew was brave enough - or just uncaring enough - to approach Kevin. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked, stopping directly in front of Kevin on the floor so that he was looming over him (it was a rare occurrence for Andrew to be able to loom over anyone at all, and he would admit he relished the opportunity).

Kevin glanced up at him irritably. If it had been anyone else, Kevin probably would have snarled at them, but since it was Andrew, he just said; “Researching mermaids. Is that a problem?”

“Your entire existence is a problem for me,” Andrew informed him. “Do I dare ask why you are neglecting your daily duties to research mermaids?”

Kevin glared up at him. “In case it has escaped your notice, there is a mermaid tailing our ship. Since he hasn’t shown himself since my incident in the cave, I am researching what the best way to coax out a mermaid is.”

Andrew raised an eyebrow. “‘Coax out’? Are you planning on eating it?”

“ _Him_ ,” Kevin corrected emphatically. “I am planning on initiating a conversation.”

“Why.”

Kevin sighed and rose to his feet, so that he was the one looming over Andrew rather than vice versa. He began to pace around the short space he’d carved out with papers and books, running an agitated hand over the tattoo on his left cheekbone. “Andrew, we are making history here. There has never been a documented case of a mermaid acting in any way other than aggression towards humans. And he _spoke_ to me, had a conversation with me. I wouldn’t expect you to care about something like this, but what we’re witnessing is groundbreaking. I want to make contact with him again; study him.”

“Study,” Andrew echoed, with an inward squirm of vague irritation. “This is not a science experiment.”

“Well, I’m not planning on _dissecting_ him,” Kevin said crossly, rolling his eyes. “I just want to make contact.”

Since it was now clear to Andrew that this whole business was just another one of Kevin’s intellectual obsessions, he lost all interest in the conversation. He gave Kevin one last cool look and wandered away, bored of the man’s predictability. 

Still, making contact with the mermaid was likely the next best step to approaching this situation. Now that the creature had personally launched Andrew out of the water (and he had felt cold hands on his arms, cool skin against his own, the scrape of scales against his legs) Andrew felt fairly certain it wasn’t about to eat any of his crew. This meant Andrew didn’t have the faintest idea what the mermaid wanted. And not knowing what people wanted was a state Andrew despised existing in. 

The rest of the Foxes didn’t appear to be anywhere near as concerned as Andrew was about this whole situation. Matt and Allison were currently debating whether the mermaid could be a vegetarian and if that explained why it didn’t eat humans, and Nicky was doing some sort of strange, rhythmic dance at the ship’s railing, claiming he’d read in a book that it attracted mermaid attention. When his dancing transitioned into aggressively gyrating his hips, Andrew wondered whether breaking his promise to protect Nicky would be worth the pleasure of pushing him overboard. After all, it was highly likely their mermaid would simply pop him back on deck again. Andrew would just be giving Nicky a little scare.

Before he could follow through with that thought, he heard Captain Wymack calling Kevin and Dan over to the ship’s helm. The three of them gathered at the helm and conferred quietly for a few minutes, which made Andrew eye them suspiciously. Wymack wasn’t usually one to let Kevin into his confidence - the latter man had two settings: annoyingly superior know-it-all and trembling emotional wreck. Both equally got on the Captain’s nerves.

Andrew didn’t have to wonder for long, because Wymack nodded at something Dan said, and then turned to face the rest of the crew. “Oi!” he yelled, deep voice booming across the deck. “Crew meeting! Everyone get over here, and be quick about it!”

The Foxes made their way over to the helm, some of them grumbling (Seth and Allison), some of them chattering (Matt, Renee and Nicky) and some of them silent (Andrew and Aaron). When they were all within normal earshot, Wymack folded his arms and leaned against the helm. “All right,” he began. “Any of you shits up for a little rowing trip?”

The Foxes stared back in surprise. The _Foxhole_ had a rowing boat in its arsenal, but it was generally only to be used as a lifeboat. They rarely found the need to go rowing. 

“Is this about the mermaid?” Matt guessed, because everything the crew discussed these days was about the damn mermaid. 

“You got it in one, Boyd,” Wymack confirmed. 

Nicky gasped in giddy excitement. “Ooh, have we finally got a plan? Have you figured out a way to talk to our little buddy?”

“Our ‘little buddy’ is still an apex predator,” Wymack reminded him. “We’re approaching this with caution.”

“We’re pirates,” said Allison. “We don’t approach anything with caution.”

Wymack rolled his eyes. “Here’s the plan. We’re sending a couple of people out on the rowing boat. One of you is going to jump in the water. Hopefully our mermaid will take the bait, coming close to chuck your ass back onto the rowing boat. That’s where this comes in.” He bent down and opened the weapons chest at his feet, pulling out a long, coiled length of rope, tied into the shape of a makeshift lasso. 

“We’re going to bait and trap him?” Matt sounded astonished.

“Are you sure that’s wise, Captain?” Renee questioned. “We don’t know for sure if that won’t provoke him into attacking.”

“Good point, Renee,” said Wymack. “Which is why whoever’s going is bringing weapons and earplugs. If he starts to attack you, you fight back. Fighting is what you shits do best, after all. The earplugs are in case the fucker starts to sing.”

“I don’t like this,” Nicky said, drooping. “It feels wrong to go in muskets blazing. He’s saved two of our lives.”

 _Three_ , Andrew corrected silently.

“And yet it could still kill us all,” Seth reminded them, his tone acid. Andrew felt the sudden urge to volunteer Seth to be the one shoved overboard in their little plan.

“We’re just going to use the rope to prevent him from swimming away,” Dan explained. “The aim is to talk to him. The weapons are a _last resort_.” She directed these last words with a pointed glare at Seth, who shrugged unrepentantly.

“With that out of the way, we need to decide on who’s going,” Wymack said briskly. “The rowing boat’s large enough for four, but we only really need to send two-”

“Oh, please, Captain, please can I go?” Nicky begged, pressing his hands together and jumping up and down. “I want to be the next one saved by the mermaid! Please, please, please.”

Wymack eyed Nicky doubtfully. “You do realise that this isn’t a little adventure, Hemmick. Our aim is to find out exactly what the mermaid wants.”

“Uh, I think it’s pretty clear what he wants,” Nicky said crossly. “To save us stupid bastards from drowning. He’s our hero.”

Seth scoffed. “Go and live in the water with him, then, and see how long it takes him to get peckish and eat you.”

“I’m gonna tell him how ungrateful you are when I meet him today,” Nicky replied.

Captain Wymack looked like he was seriously reconsidering letting Nicky join the rowing boat expedition, so Dan said, “Don’t worry, Cap, I’ll go with him. I’ll make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”

Wymack nodded, reassured. Since Dan was his first mate, he trusted her to be able to handle Nicky’s particularly overwhelming brand of enthusiasm. “It’s settled, then. Wilds and Hemmick will go.”

“I’m coming.” This was from Andrew. Everyone turned to stare at him with wide eyes. They couldn’t remember the last time Andrew had ever voluntarily joined a crew-wide conversation.

But Andrew was looking at Nicky, and the message was clear: Nicky was under Andrew’s protection, which meant Andrew was not letting Nicky out of his sight, especially if his idiot cousin was about to go throw himself in the ocean and then lasso a mermaid. If Nicky was getting on that rowing boat, Andrew was too.

“All right, Minyard.” Wymack was smirking at Andrew, and Andrew remembered their conversation the other day, when the Captain had said, _”You’re the most reliable sailor on this damn boat”_. The Captain saw and understood far too much than was good for him.

It was officially decided that Dan, Nicky and Andrew would be the ones undertaking this mermaid expedition, and so they headed over to the starboard side and began to use a pulley system to lower the rowing boat into the water below. 

Kevin was standing off to the side with his arms crossed tightly against his chest, clearly sulking that he wasn’t joining them. “The boat fits four,” he kept muttering to himself, his expression thunderous. 

“Don’t worry, Kevin,” Nicky called cheerfully. “We’ll tell Noel you said hi.”

Kevin glared. “His name is _Neil_. Honestly, Nicky, if any of us is annoying enough to actually provoke him into eating them it’s you. At least try to remember his name.”

Nicky rolled his eyes. “Well, it’s not like it’s his _actual_ name. You said he told you that you wouldn’t be able to pronounce his _actual_ one.”

Kevin, however, was too caught up in the injustice of all this to continue arguing with Nicky. “I’m the only one who’s actually spoken with him,” he insisted, aiming this towards Dan. “I should be the one going. It’s just logical.”

“It’s already been decided, Kevin,” Dan said diplomatically. They’d finished lowering the rowboat into the water, so she, Nicky and Andrew made their way to the ladder, in order to climb down into the rowboat. Kevin followed them like a bee drawn towards a flower.

“He doesn’t have a full grasp on human language,” Kevin told them hurriedly. “And he will probably be timid at first. And you shouldn’t make any sudden movements; mermaids don’t like that. And-”

Andrew, who was holding the rope, flicked it outwards to swat Kevin away. Kevin jumped backwards and sent him a mutinous glare. Andrew looked back at him boredly.

Dan was the first to begin climbing down the ladder, and the rest of the crew approached to see them off. “Tell the mermaid we all said hello!” Matt told them, before leaning forward to kiss Dan goodbye.

“What would be the point of that?” Kevin rebuffed. “He doesn’t know who any of you are.”

“Kevin’s just huffy because he’s about to stop being the only one who got to talk to the mermaid,” Nicky informed them all before following Dan down the ladder.

Andrew secured the rope around his waist in order to free up his hands for the use of the ladder. He made a point not to look downwards as he descended. While he had his fear of heights relatively under control, it was still there, chasing at his heels like a snapping dog. Somehow, descending slowly down a ladder towards murky water was worse than jumping down and freefalling quickly. At least then, falling had been his choice. If he fell now, it would be out of his control.

He looked up to see Captain Wymack’s face poking over the edge of the ship, watching him climb down. Wymack raised his fingers to his temple in salute. Andrew stared back expressionlessly, which made the Captain smirk. Andrew would have given him the finger, except he was clutching rather tightly to the ladder and couldn’t seem to be able to let go.

Finally, he reached the bottom and stepped into the rowboat. Dan and Nicky were already seated, and he took a seat on the bench across from them. The water around them was rather calm, sloshing very gently against the sides of the little boat, making little sapping and sucking sounds. It was approaching afternoon, and the bright sun was making spots on the water glisten like polished glass.

Nicky was practically pissing himself with excitement. “I’m definitely going to be the one to jump in the water,” he was saying. “You’d better not steal my thunder, Dan. I’m going in, not you. Andrew, I know you too well to worry about you stealing my moment. You’d never jump into the water.”

 _Well, about that,_ Andrew imagined himself saying. The thought of the looks on their faces if he told them he’d already launched himself into the water - and in the dead of night, no less - was almost worth revealing it, but Andrew didn’t have the energy to deal with the onslaught of questions that would come after. 

Dan picked up the oars and began rowing them out of the shadow of the ship. “We’ve got to get some distance from the ship,” she explained. “Don’t want to confuse the poor bastard into thinking you’ve fallen overboard the actual ship.”

Nicky leaned forward to gaze into the sea like he was hoping to catch a glimpse of the mermaid already. His nose was practically touching the water. Andrew grabbed his collar and yanked him back into the boat. Nicky yelped and rubbed his neck but didn’t protest, and sat back compliantly.

Once they were a good hundred metres away from the ship, Dan stopped rowing and looked at Nicky expectantly. “Take it away, Hemmick. Andrew, get the rope ready.”

Andrew considered taking an extra slow time about it just to show her she couldn’t order him around, but decided the pettiness wasn’t worth it this time. He unwrapped the rope from around his waist and prepared it to lasso. He nodded at Nicky to show he was ready.

Nicky’s eyes were dancing with anticipation. “See ya in a second, suckers,” he said, then took a deep, dramatic breath and tipped forward into the water.

Andrew watched Nicky sink below the surface and mentally decided to give the mermaid ten seconds to save him before Andrew would jump in and do it himself. Nicky’s outline was becoming blurred as he sank like a rock down, down, down into the blue-green depths. It was rather easy for a sailor to forget the fact that the ocean was miles deep, but that fact filled his mind with startling clarity now. Andrew felt his chest tighten, as the urge to go in after his cousin was growing and growing, if that damn mermaid didn’t hurry the fuck up-

As if it had materialised out of thin air, a shock of crimson suddenly appeared in the water, darting towards Nicky like a shark towards prey. The outline of a body and a deep red tail. Andrew watched as ghostlike hands wrapped around Nicky’s upper arms, pulling him towards the surface of the water with unearthly strength. 

The mermaid was fast, so fast that it was hard to track its movements. Nicky’s head appeared above the water like magic, coughing and spluttering. Dan shot forward to help Nicky back into the boat, hauling him up over the side.

But Andrew had not forgotten his job. As quickly as he had materialised, the mermaid tried to disappear again, about to dart back below the water and swim away back into the recesses of the ocean. The mermaid was quick, but so were Andrew’s reflexes, and with a lightning-strike jerk of his arms the rope was striking towards the mermaid, the lasso end sailing over his head and wrapping around his midsection. Before the mermaid could wriggle out of the trap, Andrew _pulled_ , making the loop of the rope tighten around the mermaid’s torso, trapping his arms at his sides. The mermaid bobbed in the water, finally held captive.

Andrew was prepared for the new weight at the end of the rope, and he wrapped his end several times around his hand, as if he were holding the leash of a particularly peculiar dog.

Meanwhile, Nicky was dripping rivulets of water into their rowboat. Andrew turned to him, momentarily ignoring the disgruntled mermaid on the end of his rope. “You’re flooding the boat,” he said, but Nicky wasn’t paying attention. Both he and Dan were staring in rapture at the creature they had just tricked and trapped. 

Andrew turned around again, keeping a firm hold on the rope, and properly took in the mermaid’s appearance. He was languishing in the water as far away from the rowboat as possible, the rope wrapped around him pulled taut.

It was now impossible to continue thinking of the mermaid as _it_ , because now, when looking properly at him, he was very clearly a _he_.

His hair, despite being wet from the ocean, curled around his head in soft wisps and tendrils, a shade of auburn too bright to be human. The shade of his eyes danced somewhere between the colour of the sky and the colour of the depths of the sea; simultaneously the brightest and murkiest blue a pair of eyes had ever sported. His slender neck sported three open gills on either side, then sloped down to a scar-stricken torso, the skin marred by the many echoes of old wounds. The skin was turning white where the rope was wrapped tight around his middle. But below the water, where hips should be, his skin transitioned into a mass of deep crimson scales, a powerful, streamlined lower half tapering into two membrane-like fins at the bottom of the tail. 

He was the strangest creature any of them had ever seen. 

He was also painfully beautiful.

And he was also currently glaring at them.

Probably because they had just lassoed him with a rope.

Nicky scrambled forward and laid his hands on the edge of the boat. He left a spray of water in his wake, and Andrew only just stopped himself from flinching when the cold droplets sprayed across his skin.

“Hello!” Nicky said joyfully to the mermaid. “Thank you so much for saving me, Neil! You don’t know me, but I’m Nicky and I’ve heard loads about you!”

The mermaid stared resentfully back. It was clear he did not appreciate being tricked. 

Nicky laughed sheepishly. “Sorry about the rope. But we needed to get you to talk to us and you didn’t seem to be feeling so friendly. There’s no need to be shy, you know! If you can survive a conversation with Kevin, you can survive a conversation with any of us! Well, maybe not Seth. Or Andrew.” At this last part he inclined his head sideways to indicate Andrew.

The mermaid’s gaze snapped to meet Andrew’s and his scowl grew more intense, deep blue eyes growing colder. That was fair, thought Andrew, since Andrew was the one who had trapped him with a rope and was currently holding him captive. Still, Andrew met the glare with a flat stare of his own. It had been the mermaid’s decision to keep rescuing their crewmates. If he was stupid enough to get caught in their trap, well, life was a bitch sometimes.

Dan leaned forwards. “Neil? My name is Dan. We’re really sorry to have done this to you, but we just want to talk. I promise we’re not going to hurt you.”

Neil stared at her. It was very clear he did not believe her. 

He shifted his gaze back to Andrew again, and Andrew saw a spark of fluid recognition alight in his blue, blue eyes. “You.” His voice was low and musical, like the chink of wind-chimes in a soft breeze. 

“Me,” Andrew agreed, though he was not wholly sure what exactly he was agreeing to.

Nicky turned to gape at Andrew, but Andrew didn’t spare him a glance. He had eyes only for the mermaid. 

“Nighttime,” the mermaid said to Andrew. “You are the one who jumped.”

 _Interesting,_ thought Andrew, that the mermaid had figured that out. That he hadn’t been pushed. That he had jumped.

Nicky and Dan were both gawking at Andrew, utterly flabbergasted. 

“Close your mouths,” Andrew said to them. “Unless you want to eat flies.”

The mermaid looked down at his entrapment. “Rope,” he said, resentment in his tone.

“I’m not letting you go,” Andrew informed him. “At least not yet. So you might as well stop complaining.”

The mermaid looked up at him and glared again, those damn eyes piercing right through Andrew’s core. His tail twitched and he jerked backwards, pulling at the rope. He was strong, but Andrew was ready and had his weight balanced, and he refused to let the rope be pulled out of his hand. He gave it a pointed tug, and the mermaid momentarily stopped struggling.

Andrew looked at Dan. “Ask your questions so this can be over with.”

Dan snapped back into business mode. She turned back to the mermaid - back to Neil - and smiled encouragingly. “We really grateful for the amount of times you’ve saved our crewmates. Since I know Kevin, I know he probably didn’t think to thank you, so I thought I’d do it myself.”

Neil looked at her contemplatively. “Kevin thanked me.”

Nicky laughed. “Wow, that’s probably the first time in his sorry life he’s ever expressed gratitude. He didn’t even thank us when we saved his ass from floating around on a piece of driftwood and took him in.”

Neil looked curiously at Nicky, and Andrew wondered how much of Nicky’s rapid-fire speech the mermaid had actually understood. Nicky noticed that he’d caught the mermaid’s attention and waved enthusiastically, almost accidentally tipping back into the water.

“Neil,” said Dan, capturing the mermaid’s focus again. “We just wanted to know...well, _why_ exactly you’ve been following our ship. Is it because of Kevin, because you talked to him?”

Nicky snorted loudly at the idea of anybody trailing after _Kevin_ after having spoken to him.

A very strange expression suddenly crossed the mermaid’s face. Andrew was reminded, abruptly, of how many of the Foxes looked when they thought nobody was watching them. A little lost and a little wild. Like they knew they were misfits in this world and they did not know what to do about that.

 _Oh_. Perhaps the mermaid himself did not know why he was following the ship. Perhaps he had simply latched onto the first human who had showed him kindness - even if that human had been Kevin.

_How pathetic._

Dan tried a different tactic: “Do you have a pack, Neil?”

They had learned from Kevin that mermaids travelled in packs, and that it was extremely and curiously unusual for a mermaid to be solitary like this. 

Neil seemed to shrink inwards on himself at the question, scarred shoulders hunching over, and that was answer enough. This mermaid was utterly alone in the world.

“Neil,” said Nicky quietly. “We’d really like it if you stayed with us, you know.”

The mermaid’s head snapped up at that. He stared incredulously at Nicky. 

“Well,” added Dan hurriedly. “Only if you aren’t going to, you know, eat us at any point in the future.”

The mermaid looked incredibly affronted at that - even more affronted than he had been when Andrew had lassoed him with the rope. “I do not eat humans.”

“Grand!” Nicky exclaimed. “That’s all we needed to know, really! Now that’s sorted, we can definitely be friends.”

Neil frowned. “Friends?”

“Oh, you don’t know that word. Well, it’s like, when people like each other a lot and they want to hang out together all the time. And they make each other laugh.”

“Laugh?”

“You know, like-” Nicky cleared his throat: “HA, HA, HA!”

Neil jerked, startled, and the rope in Andrew’s hand grew taut. Andrew tugged it again in warning and Neil scowled at him. 

Dan chimed in: “We’d like it if you’d stop hiding from us, you know, Neil. How about this? If somebody sails out in this rowboat, it’s the signal that they want to talk to you, and you can come over to the boat. That way, we won’t have to trap you like this. How does that sound?”

Neil contemplated this. “You want me to stay? And no more rope?”

“No more rope, I promise,” Dan confirmed. 

Neil turned to look pointedly at Andrew as he repeated: “No more rope.”

Andrew stared flatly back. “You’re going to have to come closer if you want me to untie you."

The mermaid stubbornly remained where he was for a few moments, before giving in and edging through the water, closer to the boat. He stopped in front of Andrew and stared at him expectantly, those blue eyes bright and cool. 

Andrew leaned forward, eyes tracking over the scars that littered Neil’s torso. There was only one creature that could have injured a mermaid this badly. It seemed that Neil had in the past been the recipient of several violent attacks from other mermaids. And now he travelled alone. _Another piece of the puzzle_.

As Andrew began to untie the rope, he felt the mermaid lean towards his ear. “Next time you jump,” Neil said in a low voice, “I do not save you. If you are pushed I will save you. But jumping is foolish. Do not jump.”

Andrew leaned back, having untied the rope. He met the mermaid’s gaze evenly as he wrapped the rope into a circle and looped it over his shoulder. Neil held his gaze for one, two, three seconds before looking away. He flexed out his newly-freed arms and shook out his bright auburn hair. 

“I want to talk to Kevin,” he said, and looked at Andrew pointedly. “Only Kevin.” 

Andrew wondered if that was supposed to make him jealous. 

“We can send Kevin down tomorrow,” Dan offered. Neil nodded in thanks. 

“It was really great to meet you, Neil,” Nicky said gushingly. “And we’re glad you don’t want to eat us.”

The mermaid stared at him for a few seconds, looked at Dan again, and finally at Andrew one last time. He leaned backwards and the bottom of his tail came out of the water, slapping at the water near the boat and splashing all three of them, drenching them quite thoroughly. That was their punishment for tying him up, probably.

Nicky looked immensely pleased to have been splashed by a mermaid. “Bye, Neil!” he called.

But Neil had already disappeared down into the ocean depths, quick as a bullet, and the only trace that he had ever been there was the familiar ripple at the water’s surface.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Hint for next chapter:
> 
> “Kevin, you bastard!” Nicky hollered as he climbed over the top of the ladder and pulled himself up on deck. “You didn’t tell us he was _hot!”_


End file.
